Matt Maher: Premier League protocols need to consider fans

In truth, a festive firebreak was never likely to be approved when the 20 top-flight clubs met earlier this week, even though some managers were in favour of one.

This, after all, is the league which at various stages of the pandemic has learned the benefit of holding its nerve and waiting for a crisis to pass, first when it resisted clamour to declare the 2019-20 null and void and then again, right at the start of 2021, when outbreaks at several clubs threatened to play havoc with the fixture list.

You can’t really blame the Premier League for repeating a tactic which has worked effectively in the past.

But there are some important differences between then and now. One is the sheer volume of players testing positive for Covid-19. The other is the presence at matches of supporters whose interests and well-being, the last few days suggest, fall some way down the league’s list of priorities, no matter what its PR might claim.

Last Saturday’s postponement of Villa v Burnley was the perfect case in point. In some respects the circumstances were simply unfortunate. The result of mandatory pre-match PCR tests, taken on Friday but not returned until Saturday morning, revealed an increased number of positive cases in the Villa squad.

But there was still a good two hours between Villa’s request for the match to be postponed being lodged to the Premier League and a public announcement, which for all the boxes which might need ticking is far too slow. During that time supporters unaware of any issue made their way toward the ground, many using public transport. There were doubtless some who, having heard the increased risk of transmission through the Omicron variant, would have agonised over the decision to travel, only to discover the journey was a wasted one.

The league would rightly argue PCR testing is important in protecting players from infection. Yet while matches continue to be played in front of capacity crowds, the protocols also need to take into account the welfare of those in the stands.